Staffer's Retreat

[whatisay]

WHO| Every Escort, Stylist and Mentor. Any Capitolites or Peacekeepers who might have reason to oversee or visit.
WHAT| A professional retreat for the overworked, underpaid, and super underappreciated Tribute Care Teams.
WHERE| A chalet in District One, easily accessible by train.
WHEN| Before the next death roll.
WARNINGS| Typical Capitolites being entitled asshats.
NOTES| I've put up some subthreads for various activities, if you want to add more just do so under the appropriate day subheader!

Staffer's Retreat. Mandatory. The teams for each District are given a handful of days to prepare for the weekend, which, they're told, is going to be scheduled for a weekend with no big shake-ups in the Arena and perfect weather for outdoor activities. On Friday morning, they're taken by train to a small chalet tucked into a mountainside. A few inches of snow covers the ground but the sky is clear, reflected in the beautiful lake at the base of the mountain.

Until Sunday evening, their days will be packed with "professional development". The schedule looks something like this:

Friday:
Icebreakers
Trust Falls
Hypothetical Scenarios: How to Be the First Person Chosen for a Bomb Shelter
Three-Legged Race
Self-Care Hour: Mandatory Yoga
Dinner
Breaking Down Stereotypes Workshop

Saturday:
Mandatory Mentor Group Therapy: PTSD is Not An Excuse
Mandatory Escort/Stylist Workshop: Building Trust with Your Tributes
Mandatory Sexual Harassment Training: Focus on Tribute/Mentor and Tribute/Escort Relationships
Lunch
Capture-the-Flag
Group Lego-Building
Dinner
12am Karaoke

Sunday:
5:30am Continental Breakfast
Compliment Circle
Journal Hour
Farewells

Comments

[fusshionable]

This is all sort of silly, honestly, but Porrim's happy to follow along if it means keeping her job and having things go smoothly. So she sits there with her pleasant smile, dressed in something comfortable yet smile, listening. "Melissa," she remarks. "You don't often hear that one." It's an old name--from Before. Not something a Capitolite would name their daughter nowadays. She purses her lips, and repeats the exercise.

"I'm Porrim, daughter of Anantha, daughter of Jule, daughter of..." Porrim pauses. "Katrin. Or Katrina. Something like that." She laughs a little. "It's difficult to remember them all. I never paid much attention to our family tree when I was younger." Now, however--that's quite a different story. Searching for clues, for signs of something...different.

[milieus]

"It is old fashioned, isn't it?" But then again, so is Jennifer. She recalls asking her mother about her own name as a little girl and hearing the dull reply about being named for some queen in an old fairy tale. Guinevere, her mother had said. At the time, little Jenny found it intolerable and had asked to go by her middle name, Drusilla, so that the other children wouldn't look at her funny. Nowadays, she finds it quite fitting. Who doesn't aspire to have queenly qualities?

She smiles warmly. "Porrim is such a beautiful name. Where did your mother come up with it?"

[fusshionable]

Porrim nods. "Pretty, though." It reminds her of some of the Tributes' names, actually--like Darcy, or Jane, or Elsa. Simple names.

Jennifer's question has her pausing again, because a few months ago, she could have answered flippantly, but now she's not even sure her mother ever really chose her name, so much as the stars aligned and that's how Porrim came to be. Sometimes she wonders if she was ever really born at all, but that's stupid. So she merely smiles.

"It's an old cultural name," she says, careful not to name any specific culture. "My sister, too--she's Kanaya. Our mother wanted our names to fit us, I suppose."

[milieus]

"Mothers usually know what's best." She smiles thoughtfully. "They have an intuition for things like this, especially for their daughters. I can't imagine a different name for myself now, though I often wonder what my mother would have chosen if I had a brother or a sister. I wonder if she would have kept the old fashioned theme."

[fusshionable]

"I know that all too well." She tilts her head, thoughtfully. "It's an interesting thing to ponder. I always wonder, if I ever happen to have children, how I'll ever decide on names. It's an awfully big decision, after all."

Porrim leans back in her chair. "Anything exciting happening around your office, Jennifer? I imagine your day-to-day is quite the little melodrama at times."

[milieus]

Oh, there was plenty of interesting things going on in her office, between the awkward tension between herself and Calendius and her sneaking suspicions that Jason was using the room for matters of his own when she wasn't around. But she held her tongue for now. No need to spill the beans just yet.

"It's a lot of procedural nonsense most of the time. You never realize how demanding people can be until you're put in charge of babysitting an entire tower full of them." She shakes her head, giving a charming laugh. "Thankfully I have you lovely escorts on the team. I know we all get so caught up in District rivalries, but I find it all so reassuring that we're in this together. We have peers to lean on when times get tough."

[fusshionable]

Porrim waves an airy hand. "Oh, pshaw. Honey, we're all just doing our best." She shrugs her shoulders again. "I think all of us thought this whole retreat thing was a bit hokey, honestly, but look--I think it's good for us, as a team. We all come away knowing each other a little bit better, and that will make us stronger in the end."

Never mind the fact that Porrim has very sincere doubts about wanting any of them to be stronger as a team. No, she'll hold her tongue where that's concerned.

[milieus]

On the other hand, Jennifer had no doubts about the importance of team building. A united front was needed when it came to dealing with these foreign born Tributes. Any crack could be exploited, and that was a danger Jennifer didn't need to deal with.

So she plastered on a pleasant smile. "We're all in this together. Alliances can change in a heartbeat. Who knows, you may be reassigned tomorrow. So you'll want those connections solidified now."

[fusshionable]

Porrim's own smile goes a bit tight around the edges at that, and she lets out a little laugh.

"I certainly hope that's not insider information," she chuckles. "I'm rather attached to my job."

[milieus]

"I wouldn't worry so much, Porrim." Jennifer's voice is firm, but gentle. "Your hard work in Five has been noted and is appreciated. You've really turned things around there. To think, only a few months ago you had all those troublemakers causing problems for the Peacekeepers. With you at the helm, they're all so well behaved, in the Arenas and out."

[fusshionable]

Porrim's smile relaxes, widens at the praise. "Good to hear it," she replies. "I feel like some of them have really straightened out their acts...with my help, of course. It's good to make a change. When I came onboard, they were throwing yogurt at each other and committing acts of treason. And now look at them!"

Now they've got Porrim contemplating acts of treason. That's a real turnaround, yup.